Apostrophes

_how to use
them
Bill
The possessive case
•
The possessive case is used to show a relationship of belonging between one thing and
another.

•To form the possessive, an apostrophe and an 's' is added to the noun. For example, if a ball
belongs to the dog it is the dog's ball. 。

•However the rule becomes more complicated once it is applied to a noun ending in the
letter 's’.

•The same principle applies but some people might choose to remove the second 's'.

•For example, to refer to the part played by the actress, it could be 'the actress's part' or 'the
actress' part’.

•Some people are guided in whether or not to include the 's' by how the word is pronounced.
Verb contractions

Verb contractions, which are sometimes called 'short forms',

commonly combine a pronoun or noun and a verb, or a verb and not,
in a shorter form.

The first use produces words such as 'she'll', which combines

Common mistakes

•The addition of apostrophes can lead to people becoming mixed-up between

homophones - words that have the same pronunciation but different
meanings.

•One of the most common mistakes is the difference between who's and whose.

•'Who's' is a contracted form of 'who is' while 'whose' is the possessive form of
the pronoun 'who'.

•'You're' and 'your' create similar problems for native and second language
English speakers.